NEW YORK -- Not 10 minutes after Mets general manager Omar Minaya announced the firing of the team's vice president of player development, Tony Bernazard, did the real fireworks begin.

In his explanation of the events leading up to and surrounding the firing of Bernazard, Minaya slipped in a remark about the man who broke the story that set the wheels of the firing in motion: New York Daily News Mets beat writer Adam Rubin.

Minaya said that when he first read the report in the Daily News that reported that Bernazard challenged the locker room of the Double-A Binghamton Mets to a fight in a shirtless post-game rant, he had to question the report.

Why? Well, the Mets GM said that because in the past, Rubin had lobbied Minaya and others -- including Bernazard -- about a position in player development within the organization.

"Earlier in the process, when the reports came out, I had to kind of tell myself, 'Wow, this is coming out,' " Minaya said Monday afternoon. "And I say this because coming from Adam Rubin -- okay? And Adam -- you've got to understand this -- Adam, for the past couple of years, has lobbied for a player development position. He has lobbied myself. He has lobbied Tony. So when these things came out, I was a little bit -- I had to think about it. And I was a little bit, somewhat, 'Let's find out about this. We really have to do a thorough investigation of this.' "

A bizarre plot twist to say the least: a visibly stunned Rubin sat in the back of the team's press conference room, shaking his head at what he was hearing Minaya say.

Rubin took the microphone at one point -- after Minaya fired another arrow at the reporter -- only to be so flabbergasted at the situation that he handed the mic off to another reporter. Then after a few minutes of listening to others in the room question the authenticity of Minaya's allegations, Rubin finally questioned the Mets GM:

Rubin: Is what you're alleging, is that I tried to tear Tony down so I could take his job? Is that what you're saying?

Minaya: No, no. I'm not saying that. All I'm saying was -- I know that when you wrote the reports -- that in the past, you had lobbied and have lobbied for a job.

Rubin: If I were interested in working for player development somewhere in the major leagues at some point in my life, how did that impact this situation at all?

Minaya: I said, because when the reports came out, a lot of these things were crossed. I said 'Who's writing these reports?' and I said that what's been in the back of my mind, Adam -- was you have told me, you have told other people in the front office -- that you want to work for player development. In the front office.

Rubin: So what you're alleging -- the only conclusion I can draw from that is that I was trying to tear everyone down, so I can take their position? Is that what you're saying?

Minaya: Adam --

Rubin: It seems pretty despicable to say that.

Before Minaya could formulate and answer Rubin's final question, the "Q&A" was diffused by Mets PR officials, who went to another reporter's question.

Needless to say, the situation in the press conference room at Citi Field was quite ... tense.

It was a press conference that had almost everyone in and around the Mets buzzing about the strange twist of events. What had become a mundane press conference announcing the dismissal of Bernazard, had quickly turned into a forum where Minaya implied that one of the beat reporters covering his team had inquired about a job within the organization.

"If Rubin did what he did, if Rubin asked for a job like Omar said, then he should step out and say, 'Yeah, I did,' " Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran said in the locker room. "I think doesn't surprise me. I know Omar. He's a very honest guy, so I believe that he's saying the truth. I believe that he's saying the truth. It's between Rubin and having the credibility of say, 'Yes, I did ask for the job. Or no, I did not ask for the job.' Or prove that he didn't say what he said."